Early Stage

Early Stage is an entrepreneurship simulator, teaching entrepreneurially curious students how to start a start-up. Early Stage is not a traditional academic programme by any measure – the programme runs over 8 intensive weeks of execution, execution and execution. • 20-50 students from vastly different academic backgrounds are admitted to the programme. • 250 applications received within two months of brainstorming for the initial idea (one year before the start of the first programme). • Primary KPI is NOT whether or not the students launch successful companies, but rather how much they learn, and how well equipped they are to execute on future ideas after the programme. • The programme focuses on rapid market validation of ideas, product/service development, innovative marketing/growth hacking, cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset, practical application of digital tools, raising capital and so forth. • The two main players in Bergen's entrepreneurship scene are partners, contributing capital, expertise and office space to make Early Stage a reality: Bergen Teknologioverføring (BTO) and Impact Hub Bergen. • The first batch of students attended the programme in September and October 2016.